This was the second to last day of our trip to Spain in May and it was likely my least favorite day. It happens. Our plan was to visit the Prado first thing after it opened, then have a bite to eat at El Brillante, visit the Jardín Botánico and then find the memorial to the victims of the terrorist attack at Atocha which is at the southern end of El Retiro park and very close to the Jardín. And we didn’t make it to El Retiro because we forgot! Must have had something to do with our disappointing visit to El Prado and perhaps the light rain that started just as we headed to the Jardín Botánico. Plus, by this time we were very travel weary.
We headed out to the Prado in time for their opening at 10:00 and what did we find when we got there? Hoards of people everywhere! I’ve never seen anything like it at the Prado. Several lines of people waiting to get in. I always thought that if you get to the museum when it opens, there are less people. Not on this day!! We went to the wrong line, a line that I assumed would be short because we all had pre-purchased our tickets. Wrong, so wrong! But, we chatted with a Chinese couple ahead of us and when I saw her ticket I realized that we were in the wrong line. Because I purchased a senior discount ticket for the husband and forgot that they need to check his passport to ensure he was entitled to the discount. That line was shorter but it still took over 40 minutes just to get into the museum. Then we had to fight the crowds. There were 10-20 people in front of every famous painting. It was frustrating, to say the least.
The best part of our visit to the Prado was taking refreshment in their cafe and our visit to what I call Goya’s “happy” paintings on the second floor(third floor in the U.S.). There was hardly anyone up there and we were able to take our time with the many, vibrant and colorful Goya paintings. I even got to sit down and admire some of the paintings. Photos aren’t allowed in the Prado though I saw many people taking photos. I’d imagine with crowds that large there aren’t enough museum workers to catch the offenders. Because photos aren’t allowed, I don’t have any of the various paintings that we viewed. However, I found one of my favorites by Goya from the second floor of the Prado, La Vendimia(the grape harvest) in Wikimedia.
Attribution: Francisco Goya, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Then we had the challenge of exiting the museum. So many of the doors with exit signs were not in use. I think it took us about 15 minutes to find our way out! We had a pleasant repast at El Brillante. They are famous for their bocadillo de calamares (squid sandwich) and I think their tortilla española is the best I’ve ever had. Hubby had the bocadillo and I got the tortilla. Oh, yum!!
After lunch we headed over to the Jardín Botánico. Luckily the light rain didn’t start until after we were done eating as we ate outside with a view of Atocha down the street. I had my rain jacket on and that was sufficient for the little bit of rain we experienced. And the cloudy day made for some good photos within the Jardín.
After visiting the Jardín we walked back to our hotel by way of the Prado. I asked hubby to take a photo of me in front of the Velazquez door. When I was a student in Madrid in 1980-81 this was the door I went in for my twice weekly class in the Prado. So many memories came rushing back from many places in Madrid and this door was no exception.
I have one more post from our last day in Madrid that I hope you’ll come back for. We visited the Sorolla museum which is not in the center, and we took the metro to get there. What a lovely place that was!
If you missed any of my other posts about our trip here are links to them. Thanks for looking!
travels with toby 
A beautiful visit through your photos!
Thank you so much!
It sounds like my most recent experience of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. Such amazing places but so difficult to enjoy amid the crowds.
Exactly. That’s the first time that’s happened to us at the Prado. Someone suggested the best time to visit any museum is mid afternoon but I’m not convinced about that.